Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to time-of-flight assisted structured light imaging.
Description of the Related Art
Time-of-flight (TOF) depth sensors are widely used in commercial applications due to their ability to reconstruct dynamic scenes in real-time. In general, TOF sensors work by illuminating the scene with an infrared (IR) light-emitting diode (LED) that is modulated by a continuous, periodic signal. Imaging hardware in the sensor provides pixel-level phase estimation of the reflected and scattered illumination in real-time. However, the depth measurements from these sensors tend to have inherent structural noise that may not be eliminated using image processing techniques.
On the other hand, geometric triangulation based depth techniques such as phase shifting structured light imaging are well known for their accuracy in depth calculations. In phase shifting structured light imaging, the higher accuracy in dynamic scenes is achieved by capturing multiple images of a phase shifted projected pattern. Although such structured light imaging produces much more accurate depth maps, such systems are typically not suitable for real-time depth imaging due to the multiple image capture.